NHL Draft profiles: 6-foot-6 Letourneau models game after Sabres' Thompson

This is the first story in a series of player profiles from the NHL's Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y., focusing on potential second-round picks for the Penguins at 44th and 46th overall.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Dean Letourneau is hard to miss at the NHL's Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y.

At 6 foot 6 and 210 pounds, the right-handed center is one of the biggest prospects eligible for the 2024 draft on Central Scouting's rankings. 

"I'm a big, tall centerman who likes to play fast," Letourneau told me of his game at the combine. "I've got great speed, great hands, a great shot. I like to use my smarts to make plays. I would kind of think of myself as an offensive guy, but a 200-foot centerman as well."

Letourneau, 18, has spent the previous two years playing Canadian high school hockey at St. Andrew's College in Ontario and lit up the scoresheet this past season. He led all U18 AAA players with 127 points (61 goals, 66 assists) in 56 games, and led the Prep Hockey Conference with 25 points (14 goals, 11 assists) in 14 games.

The skill is evident with Letourneau. But moving forward, he hopes to work more on "playing to my size," and taking advantage of that massive frame.

"I think I play a really skilled game right now," he said. "I need to kind of work on playing to my size, getting a little stronger and using my body a little more."

That's not to say that Letourneau isn't physical now -- he is, he just would like to leverage that size more often.

 Heck, he was even pretty physical playing lacrosse for St. Andrew's. That's him in No. 28 in white just this past April:

Letourneau said that he was always big for his age growing up. He never had one huge growth spurt, rather growing about two inches taller each year. It's not super common to see a forward of Letourneau's size -- players that big more often lean toward being defensemen where that long reach comes more in handy. Asked why he stuck at forward and not defense, Letourneau explained, "I mean, I like to score goals" with a grin.

As big as Letourneau is, it makes sense that one of the players he tries to model his game after is another big center in Buffalo's Tage Thompson, who is listed at 6 foot 6 and 220 pounds.

"I watched a lot of (Thompson's) highlights," Letourneau said. "He's been a big role model for me growing up."

Something Letourneau took from Thompson's game is what he does with his stick. As tall as Thompson is, he doesn't use a super long stick the way a defenseman would. He prefers using a shorter stick to help with his shot. The shorter stick helps with his snapshot, and allows him to corral pucks better when they're near his feet. Letourneau saw a video of Thompson explaining his short stick early in the season, and Letourneau promptly cut his own stick down.

"I can just kind of get a new range of shooting angles," Letourneau said. "I was able to pull pucks into my into my feet a little more, so I found that pretty helpful. With my long arms, I can pull it out nice and bring it nice and close."

"Long arms" is an understatement -- Letourneau led the wingspan test at the combine at 83.25 inches, more than two inches longer than any other combine participant. He also fared well in the horizontal jump test, tying for fourth with a 114.5 inch leap. In the Wingate bike test he tied for the eighth-best average power output, and had the seventh-best peak power output.

The Penguins were one of 25 teams to interview Letourneau at the combine. They have two mid-second-round picks at 44th and 46th overall, and that's right around were many rankings have Letourneau falling. The EliteProspects consolidated ranking, which takes into account multiple major ranking services and averages them out, has Letourneau ranked 40th. FloHockey has Letourneau ranked 42nd, and McKeen's Hockey has him 44th.

I asked Letourneau if anything stood out about his meeting with the Penguins, and he just smiled over the fact that it was the Penguins. That's his team.

"I mean, Pittsburgh was my favorite team growing up," he said. "So I was pretty happy to have that interview. I was a Sidney Crosby fan ever since I was young. My buddy lived in Pittsburgh, and I just kind of liked them ever since."

Letourneau is committed to Boston College. He was originally expected to play in the USHL next season and then start school in 2025-26, but when coach Greg Brown had an opening at forward to fill for next season after Will Smith left to sign his entry-level deal with the Sharks, Brown opted to bring Letourneau in a year early.

"I guess I was their guy," Letourneau said of joining Boston College next season. "I'm excited to go in. It's going to be great for me to develop there with the top-end guys they have and practicing against them every day. It's going to be a good year."

Letourneau starting college next season as opposed to the following one likely speeds up his overall development path, but he's still almost certainly a few years off from even turning pro. If he's available when the Penguins are on the clock with either of their second-round picks, he wouldn't be a bad option. You can't teach that size.